


Stranger

by fishfingersandjellybabies



Series: Red Hood!Dick AU [14]
Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-07
Updated: 2015-07-07
Packaged: 2018-04-08 04:16:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4290504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fishfingersandjellybabies/pseuds/fishfingersandjellybabies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He smiled down at her, and she had a flash of memory. From the old days. When he was two feet tall and the most annoying person she’d ever met.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stranger

**Author's Note:**

> This would be in the early days. Probably before ‘Update.’ When Dick references ‘kids dying’ he’s really just talking about Steph, even though he knows it was a ruse, since Jason never died and Damian doesn’t die until later. I kept writing Dick as still super nice in this AU, so I wanted to remind people that he’s still dark and a wee unstable here, since he was resurrected and stuff. Also I must think Dick is a cowboy, because I perpetually make him say howdy to people. Jeez.

It wasn’t like her, not to notice. She was the Oracle, she was supposed to notice _everything_.

Or maybe she did. Maybe, subconsciously, deep down, she did hear the pop of the window opening. The soft landing of combat boots. The gentle static of shuffling feet.

And maybe she hoped. Because despite everything, once she heard he was back, she wanted to see him. Because unlike everyone else, she was _there_. Before and after.

She _knew_ him. Not as…as the _thing_ he was now. As the Robin who cackled. The Robin who thought pants were unnecessary. The Robin who told the worst jokes imaginable. The Robin who made Gotham a little brighter.

She _did_ notice sound of fabric rubbing against the doorframe, there was no playing that off. No pretending that didn’t happen. His voice was low, and gentle. Warm and just a little smug.

“Howdy, Babs.”

She paused in her typing, glanced up to her screen. Cassandra was running frantically. Looking for her brothers, looking for her best friend. Just like she and Bruce had been every night since they were taken.

She could see him in the reflection, in the dark corner of the video feed, where the streetlamp’s light didn’t reach the building. He looked just as suave as she always imagined he would. Boots and jeans, plain shirt and leather jacket. A motorcycle helmet under his arm. Hair messy, but fashionably so. Probably not on purpose.

She also saw that he had no mask. No helmet and no domino, not like when he talked to Bruce. When he teased Cassandra.

She stared at him in that reflection, almost too afraid to turn around. Because she’d gone through this before. Right after he died, she thought she saw him _everywhere_. In the corner of her eye at the grocery store, a shadow jumping the rooftop. A voice in her hospital room after she was shot.

She didn’t want this to be another ghost too.

“Can you say something, please?” He asked.

“You have to give them back.” She opted for.

“No I don’t.” He responded plainly. No humor, no anger. Just blank. A fact.

“They aren’t yours.”

“They aren’t _anyone’s_.” A little humor in that one. She pursed her lips.

“Damian is a minor.” She countered instantly. Her heart hurt a little at that one. Banter, just like they used to. “You don’t have legal custody, that’s kidnapping.”

“Consider me a good citizen, taking the kid out of an abusive situation.” Dick rattled off. “Or a relative. He is _legally_ my brother, after all.”

“Doesn’t work like that, champ.” And Barbara couldn’t help the light chuckle. He never could outsmart her, but he always liked to try.

“I’m not giving them back, Barbara.” He whispered. “They’re safer with me.”

“Not everyone believes that.” Barbara sighed. Her eye began to twitch. She realized she hadn’t blinked since first laying her eyes on him. “Bruce is worried sick.”

“Good.” Dick scoffed, bitter.

“ _Not_ good.” Barbara shot back. “You know how he gets when Robin-”

And she stopped there. Because that was the wrong thing to say.

_You know how he gets when Robin is taken from him._

But she clearly didn’t need to finish the thought. Dick grinned, and it was sour.

“I do.” Dick hummed. “He gets _so distraught_ he replaces Robin with a new model after a few months. No worries. I give him… _eh_ …two months until he forgets all about Damian.”

“He thought it was best!” Barbara blurted out instantly, taking the chance and spinning her chair. Dick was still there, still leaning against the doorframe. “He thought Jason needed it, it was the only way he could keep an eye on him. Tim forced himself into the role, he wouldn’t take no for an answer. Steph…Steph was out there anyway, at least this way Bruce could give her more training. And Damian-”

“Damian wanted to go out on his own. Kill people to prove a point. And for a ten-year-old, that is most definitely bad. Damian wanted to be Batman, but compromised into being Batman’s partner. So long as he got to work with his father.” Dick listed off. “I know. I know all about it. All about their histories. That doesn’t change anything.”

“You don’t have to fight him, Dick.” Barbara slumped back. “He-”

“Don’t.” Dick ordered.

“He tried so hard.” She murmured. Taking her glasses off and rubbing at her face. “I’ve never…I’ve never seen someone look so broken before.”

“Barbara, stop.”

“When he lost you, I thought he’d never come out of it, that…that grief.” Barbara ignored him. Felt her eyes sting again, though this time from tears. “Dick, he…he loved you _so much_.”

“So much, he let kids die in my name!” Dick suddenly shouted. “He let them get beaten and bruised. He let them _bleed_ , get captured, get thrown off buildings, get _shot_ , go into hiding – all because he couldn’t let me go! He couldn’t get over the fact that he failed, but he couldn’t go far enough as to avenge me, oh no. So he did the next best thing. He got another. And another, and _another_. Gave them my name, so he could never blatantly forget me and thought ‘I’ll do better this time. I’ll protect them. They won’t end up like Dick, I’ll do _better_.’ And look, Babs, _look at this_! He _hasn’t_!”

Barbara didn’t answer. Just covered her face with both hands. Squeezed her eyes shut in attempts to stop the tears. Because he was right. And Barbara had said the exact same thing to Bruce’s face when Jason debuted in the red and yellow.

She listened as he inhaled. Sounding shaky and a little surprised. “Sorry, I…” And suddenly he was in front of her, leaning over her and running a hand over her head. He pulled her forward just slightly, pressing his lips to her hairline. “I’m sorry, Babs.”

She shook her head, reaching up and wrapping her arms around his neck. He tensed slightly, but quickly melted into the embrace, ducking down to bury his face in her neck.

“I m-missed you.” She sobbed. “We all missed you _so much_.”

“I missed you, too.” Dick whispered. “I wanted to come back, when I heard you…” His grip on her hair tightened slightly. “When I heard the Joker had…”

“Come back now.” She decided. “Bring the others home and _stay_.”

Dick sighed, then. Began to pull away. “I can’t.”

“Dick-”

“I can’t. Be near Bruce. Have the others near Bruce. Not…not right now.” He gently took her hands, pulled them off of his person. Gave them a quick squeeze as he placed them gently back in her lap. “It’s good to see you, Babs.”

“A-and you.” Barbara whispered. He smiled down at her, and she had a flash of memory. From the old days. When he was two feet tall and the most annoying person she’d ever met.

“Take care of Cassandra for me, okay?” He asked softly. Barbara could do nothing but nod. “And give Alfie a kiss for me, next time you see him.”

She sniffed. “G-go…go see him yourself, jerk.” She blinked, shoving her glasses back on her face. “And don’t you dare think I’m going to send Bruce messages for you! You want him to know something, you tell him yourself!”

“Never.” Dick laughed. He backed up a little, bending to pick up the motorcycle helmet he apparently had dropped. “I’d never do that to you.”

“You better not.” Barbara threatened. Though through the tears that wouldn’t go away, it probably didn’t seem very affective.

“Jason sends his love, by the way. Says he knows you’re probably worried.” Dick said, almost like an afterthought. “Steph asked if you could water the plants.”

“Thanks, Jay. And will do.” Barbara agreed. Because there was no point in trying to convince the man of anything else. Dick nodded, satisfied, and spun towards the door. “…Dick?”

“Hm?” He turned his neck, glanced at her in his periphery.

“Don’t be a stranger, okay?”

Dick smiled. Nodded again.

“And take care of those kids.” She finished. “I’m not saying we’re giving up getting them – and _you_ – back, but they’re all a bunch of babies at heart. How they’ve survived as long as they have on their own, I’ll never know.”

“I will. I’ll give them your love, too.” Dick promised. “See you ‘round, Batgirl.”

Dick didn’t wait for a response, disappearing out the doorframe. A few seconds later, the same squeak of a window opening, a flutter of fabric as he jumped into the night. Barbara turned back to her computers, hit the security cameras outside, watched as he mounted his bike and drove away. She sighed sighed, shook her head, but couldn’t stop the small, content smile on her face.

“Later, Boy Wonder.”

**Author's Note:**

> [other Red Hood!Dick stories.](http://fishfingersandjellybabies.tumblr.com/tagged/RedHood%21Dick-au)   
> 


End file.
